The Rogue Song (1930)

In tsarist Russia, a princess falls for a dashing bandit leader, but their romance proves a stormy one.

Directors:

Lionel Barrymore, Hal Roach (uncredited)

Writers:

Robert Bodanzky (libretto Zigeunerliebe) (as Robert Bodansky), John Colton

Stars:

Lawrence Tibbett, Catherine Dale Owen, Nance O'Neil

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lawrence Tibbett	...	Yegor
Catherine Dale Owen	...	Princess Vera
Nance O'Neil	...	Princess Alexandra
Judith Vosselli	...	Tatiana
Ullrich Haupt	...	Prince Serge
Elsa Alsen	...	Yegor's mother
Florence Lake	...	Nadja
Lionel Belmore	...	Ossman
Wallace MacDonald	...	Hassan
Kate Price	...	Pelrovna
Kewpie Morgan	...	Frolov (as H.A. Morgan)
Burr McIntosh	...	Count Peter
James Bradbury Jr.	...	Azamat
Stan Laurel	...	Ali-Bek
Oliver Hardy	...	Murza-Bek

Storyline

Russia, 1910. Yegor, a dashing (as well as singing) bandit leader meets Princess Vera at a mountain inn. They end up falling in love, but the relationship is shattered when Yegor kills Vera's brother, Prince Serge, for raping his sister, Nadja, and driving her to suicide. Yegor kidnaps Vera, forcing her to live a life of lowly servitude among the bandits. Vera manages to outwit Yegor, who's captured by soldiers and flogged. Vera begs Yegor's forgiveness. Although still in love with each other, they realize they cannot be together, at least for the time being.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1910 | 1910s | edwardian era | russian empire | rogue | 

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Taglines:

THE first brilliant operetta in the already amazing history of the talking screen is here! More exciting than any picture you have ever witnessed! (Print Ad- Syracuse Journal, ((Syracuse NY)) 15 March 1930)

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Genres:

Musical | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Friday 17 January 1930. Despite it getting mixed reviews it did well at the box office and played for months in New York and throughout the States. It was released in Europe about a year later.

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Quotes

Yegor: Hassan.
[Hassan comes to Yegor]
Yegor: Get to the tents. Can't you see there's a storm coming? There's work to be done.
[Hassan leaves]

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Connections

Featured in Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films (2011)

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Soundtracks

Ballet Music (Suite Choreographique)
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin (uncredited)

User Reviews

Complete audio track reveals dull and sluggish operetta

I have finally been able to hear the entire 101 minute audio track, preserved on disc. The film is lethargically paced and the ten Laurel and Hardy scenes are very short and have nothing to do with the plotting, just gags tacked onto the film to liven it up after poor preview response. The sound is not that good and of the ten musical numbers only two songs are worthy of praise - SWEET WHITE DOVE and WHEN I'M LOOKING AT YOU. In addition we have a RIDING SONG, SONG OF THE ROGUE, LOVE COMES, SONG OF THE LAUGHING MAN, NADJA'S SONG. There are two ballets and a lament.

Tibbett comes off well, self-confident and masculine in his bravura and sexy performance and his singing voice here is put to good use. One can see how he garnered a Best Actor nomination that year. There were a number of other performances nominated on the basis of pure charm (Ronald Colman in BULLDOG DRUMMOND, Maurice Chevalier in THE LOVE PARADE and THE BIG POND).

If this is ever found, it probably will be a disappointment for those who waited. The fragment of Laurel and Hardy with the bear (just over a minute) and the ballet (a few minutes) have surfaced as visual fragments and are housed at UCLA.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 1930 (USA)

Also Known As:

Banditenlied

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 115 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (2-strip Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1